The St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority has nominated STL Tower Partners as the preferred developer for the vacant Roberts Tower in downtown St. Louis. The St. Louis Business Journal reports the naming of the tower’s owner takes the building one step closer to completion.

By reaching a redevelopment agreement with the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, the developer ensures the tower will be eligible for a 10-year tax abatement. The property is located at 411 North 8th Street within a downtown redevelopment area established by the city in 1988.

The construction of the tower was started in 2007 by St. Louis businessmen Mike and Steve Roberts. The brothers had in mind a $70 million project and planned to fill the building with 55 luxury condos, but apart from a restaurant which quickly went out of business, the tower has been empty. The development effort to complete the 25-story tower is now led by Chicago-based UrbanStreet Group. The group plans to spend $22 million and together with Cincinnati-based North American Properties, add 132 upscale apartments to the glass and concrete tower.

In other real estate news, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the St. Louis zoning panel has given the green light to the developers of a planned five-story apartment building in the Dogtown neighborhood. The developers of the $12 million project, David and Brett Apted, have been granted by the Board of Adjustment members the required zoning variance to allow the construction of 63 market-rate apartments on the former site of Forest Park Lumber & Supply Co. The board, however, requested the developers to provide one parking spot for each apartment, and to ensure the building’s first three floors have a brick exterior.